Shocking

“The fires of war are burning, blood is flying! Caught in the midst of this conflict, we may never see another dawn, but even so, we must fight for a better tomorrow! This is a struggle of justice, a struggle filled with love!”

Rumble…

The roar of artillery and gunfire echoed throughout the entire hall, yet even so, Ning Rou’s impassioned voice pierced through the din, ringing clearly in everyone’s ears.

“My god, this… what is this?”

“Is this really the performance of a student? I mean, shouldn’t this be some professor?”

“I… I… this…”

…

Words were unnecessary; there was no need to even listen to the babbling of the people around her. At this very moment, Xiao Yuehua recognized the reality of the situation.

The Saint’s War.

Like Xiao Yuehua’s performance just now, it was a speech-based piece. However, unlike the fictional drama Xiao Yuehua had chosen, The Saint’s War was a story based on the actual history of this world.

During the World War era before the formation of the Federation, a small nation gasped for breath under the falling shells, with countless lives perishing meaninglessly every day. In that moment of dire crisis, a high-born girl from a foreign land disregarded all danger, resolutely joining the battlefield. She led from the front in a struggle for justice that seemed destined for defeat.

Compared to a work of fiction, a story with such profound historical weight had already won the battle of thematic depth from the start.

And that was to say nothing of Ning Rou’s performance—

It was also a speech intended to stir the emotions of the listeners. But in Ning Rou’s voice, there was something far more complex, far more abundant.

There was the fury toward the warmongers who sparked the injustice, the sympathy for the innocents whose lives had vanished, the fearlessness and fervor for the fight, and…

The mercy toward all the victims of war, regardless of their side.

In this moment, even if one only listened to Ning Rou’s voice without looking at the stage, these intense emotions would naturally well up in their hearts. Within her performance, not a single flaw could be found.

There was no need to even compare the two acts. They were simply not products of the same level.

The improvement Xiao Yuehua thought she had made was trivial in the face of Ning Rou’s growth. The transformation she thought she had undergone looked like a joke under this despairing disparity of strength.

Even with the Professor’s devoted assistance, she was still standing behind Ning Rou, staring at her back with no hope of ever catching up. For Xiao Yuehua, this was a blow heavy enough to shatter her very conviction.

But what drove her to true despair was the look on the Professor’s face nearby—a look of shock and awe she had never seen before.

Why?

Even I have never seen that expression on the Professor’s face.

So, that stiff, indifferent face of his is actually capable of showing such rich emotion?

That’s not right.

Something has definitely gone wrong.

Everything about the Professor should belong to me. All of his ‘firsts’ should be mine alone!

I was the one he chose as his student. I was the one who shared the same hardships with him. I was the one who discovered his true side. I was the one who grew closer to him through daily companionship. And I was the one who fell so deep during that companionship that I resolved to confess and possess him entirely!

The Professor’s awe, the Professor’s shock—these expressions, these ‘firsts’—should have been treasures belonging solely to me!

So why… why are they being stolen by someone else right now?

Xiao Yuehua stood frozen. The sounds of gunfire and artillery from the surrounding phantoms were deafening; the fires of war burned bright. But she felt none of it, sensing only a bone-chilling cold and a sense of powerlessness seeping into her marrow.

On stage, Ning Rou’s performance soon ended. The powerful fluctuations of Acting Power subsided, and the surrounding phantoms gradually vanished. Yet the entire hall remained pin-drop silent. Everyone was submerged in the shock they had just experienced.

This silent yet grand stillness lasted for nearly two minutes. Finally, someone snapped out of it.

It was the Professor.

His pupils refocused, and the emotion in his eyes was different from anything he had ever shown when looking at her or anyone else. It was the gaze of absolute recognition after being thoroughly moved.

On stage, Ning Rou looked nervous. She didn’t seem to fully understand just how extraordinary her performance had been. She stood at a loss in this inexplicable silence. Seeing her panicked expression, Xiao Yuehua felt only…

Rage.

How ridiculous. This kind of genius, this monster with terrifying talent, was actually oblivious to her own brilliance. Against the backdrop of her frightening gift, this dullness seemed to transform into a virtue—a virtue that made the genius seem more humble and approachable.

I hate her…

Suddenly, Xiao Yuehua felt a churning in her stomach, nearly making her retch. She couldn’t tell if this sickening nausea was directed at her own dark thoughts or at Ning Rou on the high stage. She only knew that her spirit had plummeted to its lowest point in history.

Of course, the next moment, she realized just how naive she had been.

Clap, clap…

In the silence, the Professor was the first to start clapping. The solitary sound echoed in the empty hall and, like a contagion, quickly drew a crowd of followers. The applause grew louder and more chaotic, gradually turning into invisible cannonballs that blew Xiao Yuehua’s already tattered self-esteem to pieces.

She tried her best to look away, but her eyes refused to leave the Professor as he stood to applaud. Xiao Yuehua felt her soul falling into an abyss, a bottomless pit where every second took her deeper.

The confession she had planned had become an utter farce. Right now, she didn’t have the courage—let alone the right—to ask the Professor for anything more.

In the Professor’s eyes, there was only Ning Rou.

A moment later, the Professor happened to turn his head and discovered Xiao Yuehua standing stiffly in place.

“Student Yuehua, when did you come down?”

Xiao Yuehua watched with her own eyes as his expression of awe vanished. By the time she was led to the seat beside him, his expression was no different from the stiff mask he wore for strangers. Seeing his gaze about to drift back to Ning Rou on stage, a sudden impulse made Xiao Yuehua grab the Professor’s hand.

“Professor!”

“What… what is it?”

The Professor instinctively shook off her hand. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, followed by a trace of subtle resistance.

Resistance?

Xiao Yuehua heard her own teeth grinding together under the intensity of her emotions. But in the next heartbeat, she was suppressed by a persistent, undying sense of wishful thinking.

My dignity is already shattered anyway; there’s no point in putting on an act anymore.

What if… I mean, what if the Professor actually appreciates me more?

After all, haven’t we been the ones keeping each other company all this time? Only the Professor and I are the same kind of people!

Amidst the violent fluctuations of her inner turmoil, she tried her best to sound normal as she spoke:

“Professor… what did you think of my performance?”

“Excellent. I wasn’t wrong about you, and you didn’t fail my expectations.”

To her surprise, the Professor’s evaluation was unexpectedly high. A tiny smile touched the corner of his mouth—so subtle it could easily be missed. It caused Xiao Yuehua’s nearly dead heart to leap.

“In fact, your growth has been so significant that my tutoring actually didn’t have much to do with it.”

“How can you say that, Professor? Your guidance was the most important thing.”

The dark emotions receded quickly, and a smile unconsciously began to spread across her face. However, the Professor’s next words brought a sudden, piercing sense of unease.

“No, I’m not joking, Student Yuehua. I was actually thinking… if perhaps my faulty teaching has been hindering your growth.”

“Wh… what? Professor, what do you mean by that?”

“Do you remember the bet we made with Student Ning Rou?”

The smile froze on Xiao Yuehua’s face.